ASUS VivoBook R416SA-EH21 Review | Simmyideas Tech Hub

For Students, all you need is a competent, nice, and not-too-expensive laptop. Nothing fancy! Unless your budget allows to go for a more expensive ultraportable. The ASUS VivoBook R416SA-EH21 is one of those laptops that comes with a decent-size screen that suffices for schoolwork, enthusiast-level image and video editing, and can allow you surf the Web on the go.

In fact, it s one of the least expensive systems we’ve seen all year round with a full HD display, making it a good choice if you need the extra working room and portability of a budget desktop-replacement laptop.

If you’re after a budget laptop you might think they’re all bad in some way. Poor screen, slow performance, not quality built. Well, it might be true in many cases, but there are also diamonds in the rough. ASUS VivoBook R416SA-EH21 seems to have gotten a lot of positive attention lately, so it was a perfect choice for us to take a look at…

Design and Features of ASUS VivoBook R416SA-EH21

When closed, the VivoBook R416SA looks stunning in its dark-silver brushed aluminum finish; and the top lid and keyboard deck are covered in the same material giving it a premium feel. On the is a black-colored polycarbonate, which isn’t as cool as the all-metal Acer Chromebook 14, which is the same feel when you buy a car advertised as having leather seats, but in reality they have vinyl on the sides and backs. Still, the system is portable enough just like competing desktop-replacement laptops, measuring 0.7 by 13.3 by 9.3 inches (HWD) and weighing 3.3 pounds.

Its 14-inch LCD non-touch panel affords you a rarely-seen luxury in the budget category, as it boosts a 1,920-by-1,080 (full HD) resolution. All these make the Vivobook EH21’s screen better if you’re planning on editing website layouts, working on spreadsheets, or watching HD movies at native resolutions.

During testing, the screen was clear and depicted excellent detail, especially when viewed in its sweet spot though the colors showed some wash out when the screen is tilted too far forward or backward. Thankfully, its easy to find a comfortable watching position on the screen. Asus decided to save a few buck by including a disappointing VGA (640-by-480) resolution webcam, considering that other laptops come with 2-or 5-megapixel cameras. Lately, not everyone uses video conferencing apps like Skype, but it can’t be ruled out among consumers. The stereo speakers produce clear sounds, and are loud enough to fill a small –to medium- size room.

There is a very good assortment of I/O ports squeezed onto the VivoBook’s limited surface area, including one that is rarely seen in budget units. The right side houses a security lock slot, a USB 2.0 port and an SD memory reader. On the left is an HDMI port, a USB 3.0 and USB Type-C ports. It’s not always that you have a Type-C port on a budget laptop, which supports speedy data transfers and charging for compatible Type-C chargers, but it doesn’t support video-out which can be done through the dedicated HDMI out port. None of the competitors we’ve seen so far have a Type-C port, which is a plus for the VivoBook R416SA.

We’d welcome multiple ports (two USB 3.0 ports instead of just one, for example), but it’s still a wide selection for a budget PC. Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 are present for wireless communications—much better than the single-band Wi-Fi found on some inexpensive laptops like the HP 15-ba010nr. It has a chiclet-style non-backlit keyboard, which is a luxury seldom seen at this category. It is, however comfortable to use, though the small size limits the placement of a numeric keypad, as on larger competitors. The one-piece touchpad is tall and quite responsive.

The ASUS VivoBook R416SA-EH21 has 4GB of memory soldered on the motherboard, along with 128GB of eMMC flash storage. That doesn’t sound like lots of storage for a college student, but its much than what you get from rivals, and the fact that its an SSD its still acceptable, since it’s faster than the spinning hard drives in the ASUS F556UA-AB32 and HP 14-an013nr.

Performance of ASUS VivoBook R416SA-EH21

At a glance, you might think ASUS VivoBook R416SA-EH21 has a solid-state drive. But the 128GB drive there is, is really an eMMC – embedded MultiMediaCard. It’s a stripped-down version of SSD, not as fast and durable, but still convenient for these ultrabooks and better choice than a full-blown hard drive, in my opinion. It can not be upgraded as the drive is indeed integrated on the main board.

The processor is the good old Intel Pentium N3700, an ultra-low voltage quad-core chip that runs on 1.6GHz clock frequency and goes up to 2.4GHz with turbo. Having a tad less than 2000 points in CPU Mark it’s not a powerful processor, but day-to-day computing works wonder with it.

The unit has 4GB memory, although it seems to soldered on mainboard. Thus, upgrading the RAM isn’t possible. Hope you are fine with that!

ASUS R416SA: Mobile Performance, Elegantly Crafted

Get full productivity and functionality with more portability than ever before. The new R416SA is a slender 0.7” thin and weighs only 3.3 lbs, perfect for carrying with you anywhere.Despite its portability, the R416 makes little sacrifice: it’s equipped with a full-HD 1080P display, 128GB of solid state storage, and 4GB RAM. It even includes next-gen connectivity like 802.11ac WiFi and a USB-Type C connector.

Premium Brushed Aluminum Finish

The R416SA has been completely redesigned to give you a luxurious and durable feel for your everyday laptop.ASUS R416SA laptop gives you all the essentials you need for everyday computing. With its compact dimensions, streamlined curves, and brushed aluminum finish, the R416SA provides you with an incredibly premium feel – far from what you’d expect for a value laptop.

Thin, Light, Powerful

Even though it’s a 14” laptop, it certainly doesn’t feel like one. The thin and light R416SA weighs only 3.3 lbs and is only 0.7” thin. It’s the perfect device to slip into your backpack or messenger bag. Despite its small frame, it’s equipped with 128GB of solid-state storage and 4GB of RAM for zippy application launches and boot times. It features boot-up speeds as fast as only 15 seconds!

Next-Gen Connectivity

ASUS R416SA even features a USB Type-C port. It has a smaller connector that’s just one-third the size of current USB connectors. It’s reversible too, so it fits every time, right-side up, or upside down. It also comes with the fastest WiFi available: 802.11ac.

Up to 9 hours of battery life

ASUS R416SA gives you up to 9 hours of battery life so you can work out of coffee shops or libraries for the entire day without having to look out for a power socket. It’s great when you’re travelling too, so you stay productive even on long haul flights.

A touchpad with touchscreen-like precision

Exclusive technology used in the production of smartphone touchscreens has been incorporated into the touchpad of the R416SA, giving you a highly sensitive surface for almost instantaneous response and incredible accuracy. The result – a more intuitive touchpad experience.

Quad Core CPU for Powerful Multitasking

The R416SA is equipped with an Intel Quad Core N3700 Processor, one of the most powerful Intel Braswell processors available.It’s perfect for multitasking, powering through your office programs, and 1080P video streaming without any drop in frame rates or visual quality. This extremely power-efficient processor also lets you stay productive all day long.

Fanless Low Noise Design

The fanless design of the the R416SA keeps noise levels down, ideal when you want to work silently in libraries or coffee shops. Unlike a traditional laptop, the R416SA disperses heat passively, without the use of a cooling fan. The result is a device with virtually no moving parts and no annoying fan noise.

ASUS Splendid Technology

ASUS R416SA delivers vibrant visuals and brilliant colors thanks to ASUS Splendid technology. This exclusive technology fine-tunes various display settings and parameters, ensuring you get only the very best visuals. Whether you’re watching movies or viewing photos, everything seems more real and life-like.

High Quality Speakers with Large Chambers

ASUS R416SA features high quality dual speakers with larger 9cc speaker chambers situated under the palm rest. These direct sound towards you for a truly immersive experience as your favorite movies and music come to life.

Is it good choice for gamers?

Just very simple games, such as Minecraft, work flawlessly on this machine. You see, there’s nothing but integrated Intel HD graphics engine available and it’s slow. New ones like GTA 5 and Battlefield 4 are out of your reach easily, even Counter-Strike: Go would probably be too much at sub-20 frame rates. So, don’t get this laptop if gaming is what you like to do a lot.

What ports and connections are included?

You are welcome to connect devices to ASUS VivoBook R416SA-EH21. It offers three USB ports – one USB 2.0, one USB 3.0 and one USB 3.1 Type-C for you. To connect monitor you can use the notebook’s HDMI-out.

You won’t find RJ-45 for cable networking, but there’s WiFi adapter for wireless connections. It supports the 802.11ac standard and Bluetooth 4.0. In case you insist on cable, get USB to RJ-45 adapter.

This computer doesn’t have DVD drive, it’s quite small computer. There exists external drives that connect to USB. You might also find joy in the laptop’s SD card slot.

Some other important things

ASUS VivoBook R416SA-EH21 has a glossy, non-touch 14-inch display. It’s a Full HD screen, rather rare for this price. Hence image quality should be great and everything on the screen sharp. Also a VGA-level webcam is included here.

The 57Whrs battery offers ~7 hours operating time according to many people who bought this notebook. It’s a non-removable battery.

The laptop’s chassis is plastic.

Conclusion

The ASUS VivoBook R416SA-EH21 has enough features and performance to shine as an above-average contender among budget desktop-replacement laptops. It boasts all-day battery life, a good build quality and design, generous amount of snappy storage space, and a full HD screen that’s sweet on the eyes, however, for having much better performance of a sixth-generation Intel Core i3 processor, a wide, expansive keyboard with numeric keyboard for doing real work, and 1TB hard drive storage, all while coming in affordably.

The ASUS VivoBook R416SA-EH21 is priced at $358.75, that said, if portability is more important to you than power, keep the VivoBook on your short list.